Zack's Slumber
by setokiyoshi
Summary: Zack is a quiet and reclusive character. In order to heed the advice of his mentor, he ventures out to find the best guild in the land, Fairy Tail. There, instead of finding a guild of strength, he sees friendship and understanding. He opens up to the guild for the first time but something within him is slowly gaining power waiting to be unleashed. Many cross overs are in store.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-Depart to the Future

He woke up on a warm summer morning. Yawning, he walked out of the cave not noticing the note near the entrance and started his morning routines. He was a 5 foot 6 inch 16 years old with midnight-black hair. His pupils were jet black, his skin a milky white, and he was relatively fit. He gathered the firewood, caught fish in a nearby stream, checked the traps designed for him that he laid out last night, and started cooking breakfast for himself. Afterwards, he checked the traps he laid out for his master. "Speaking of which," he thought, "He isn't here…I guess he went out to scout out an area or destroy a village…" He dismissed his master's absence and continued his task. He was lucky! There was a great elk deer snared in one of them. Of course, it was difficult to take it back to camp, the deer weighed over 500 pounds but his master trained him well. He left the deer in the open and started his morning training. His master has told him to start off with 100 pushups on his right hand, then 100 on his left. Then he would do a run around the mountain which covered a distance of 10 miles. When he completed his run, he noticed the deer was in the same spot and his master was STILL nowhere to be found. "This is strange…he usually leaves a note when he's gone for more than a day…maybe he left one?" he thought. He started his search and found the note he didn't notice in the morning. He opened it and read;

I am leaving for a while on an urgent matter. I will never return to the camp. I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but I'm sure you'll understand. Besides…I have trained you enough to face the outside world and I am confident you can handle it. Remember…do not get weaker…or I'll kill you myself!

-Acnologia

He thought to himself, "Acnologia…heh heh…don't worry. I WILL survive in this world and get stronger. Besides…I still have to kill you for what you did to me" He reminisced about that day. The day when his whole life changed eleven years ago.

*Flashback eleven years*

Acnologia stood above the village satisfied with his work. The villagers laid everywhere in pit, crushed houses, speared against pillars, trampled, and burned to a crisp. The foolish villagers who tried to fight him were quickly crushed, whipped into buildings, torn in half, or charred to their bones. He had found what he was looking for, a power core brimming with darkness which would amplify his abilities over dark magic. He was about to absorb the essence when, all of a sudden, it channeled to another location. It went under a house, to a small wailing boy. Acnologia quickly uncovered the child and was about to kill him for taking his essence when he noticed something. This "house" was more like a jail cell. It had reinforced steel with a floor resistant to digging. The top was made of a strange material, a steel that when the Black Dragon tried to break, quickly reformed itself. What was even more bizarre was the "metal" was magic resistant. Not even his Death's Roar could destroy the cage. He cursed himself "Hmmm…they must have placed this child here for a reason. A last ditch attempt at protecting it? Damn it…it doesn't matter. NOW I'LL NEVER GET BACK MY ESSENCE!"

He turned to leave when the child within, using the dark essence, destroyed the cage with just a touch. Sensing the immense dark energy behind him, he turned around to see a blast of dark energy that was just as, if not more powerful than his own. The child roared, "YOU KILLED MOM AND DAD! DIE MONSTER!"

He quickly unleashed a volley of dark blasts from his hands which Acnologia easily dodged but the child continued his assault. Acnologia thought "This child…is amazing, he is not afraid of dark magic in fact, he channels it in a fierce manner and unleashes it with skill almost equal to my own. However, while his skills are impressive, they are raw and unrefined. A potential asset to me…I shall train him and hone his skills."

With that, he unleashed a powerful claw attack, knocking out the child. He approached him and picked him up. With his valuable "apprentice" in tow, he flew off to train the boy.

*Five hours later*

The boy groaned. His head pounded and his body drained of all energy. He sat up to see he was in a camp, a plate of hot food in front of him. Realizing how hungry he was, he devoured the food and checked his surroundings. He didn't recognize the area and decided to just eat and wait. After about an hour, he saw the being which attacked his village. It landed and approached him. "I'm out of energy…I can't fight this monster…but I HAVE TO TRY!"

He readied his dark energy but the monster just laughed. "WHAT IS IT YOU MONSTER?!" he shouted at the creature. Surprisingly, the animal replied, "Do not try to hurt me boy. The only reason I have let you live is that you hold something valuable to me. Also, your powers over dark energy intrigue me. I have never seen someone with such mastery over the dark or someone who is unafraid of it. In fact, your powers nearly equal my own. The reason I say nearly is because your skills are raw. However, with my help, you can master your powers and maybe one day kill me thus avenging your fellow villagers. What say you?"

His head was in turmoil. Train under the one who killed your parents, the only ones who ever loved you? He must be joking! But…he knows my powers; he knows what I must do in order to master them… Mom…Dad…I WILL avenge you along with everybody in the village. He looked at Acnologia and stated, "I will join you monster. But know this. If I EVER get the chance to kill you…I'll take it."

Acnologia smirked. "Fair enough. Another reason I chose you is because you have spirit, a necessity to complete my training. However, know this my training is anything but easy. Every day, you'll run the risk of dying. You'll climb mountains and fight beasts with powers that exceed your own. But your skills will grow faster than you could dream of with regular training. Do you still accept?"

The boy just sighed and stated, "Yes monstrosity, I still accept. I swear I'll kill you one day and I can't do that without you."

The dragon replied, "Excellent. Three things though. First, I am not a monster. I am a dragon, a beast with more strength and elegance than you filthy humans. Second, I have a name. It's Acnologia. Third, what is your name?"

The boy replied, "My name is Zack, Zack Aeterna"

*Flash forward to present*

Zack lay in thought for a few more minutes. Then he said to himself, "Well, no more dwelling in the past. It's time to depart for the future. And Acnologia…I will exceed you in strength and mastery over the dark" With that thought, he left the camp, and departed for the first time into the world outside.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-Arrival

"Man…" Zack thought, "Traveling is so difficult, it's been more than TWO WEEKS and I haven't seen a single town…Damn you Acnologia…I feel like you did this on purpose…Oh well, at least the terrain is level and the weather is nice."

Zack trudged through the field, ever alert for a stray gopher or a jackrabbit. His stomach growled at the thought of fresh meat, he hadn't eaten a single morsel of flesh since last week, when he ate the last of the Great Elk he caught for Acnologia. Lucky for him, the field held many sources for food such as berries and the occasional edible grass. Water wasn't a real problem because of the abundance of streams scattered around the vast field. Overall, the traveling wasn't that bad, but the lack of another being gave Zack a continuing sense of loneliness. The nights were especially bad; he was used to hearing Acnologia's breathing and in the field the only thing present was a continuing and omniscient silence. On the fifteenth night, he lied on the mat he brought along and thought to himself, "I better see a town tomorrow, or I think I'll go insane" and with that declaration, he fell asleep.

He awoke to the sound of a jackrabbit ruffling through his supplies of berries. His eyes shot open and he grabbed the rabbit by the neck, his swiftness attributed to countless duels with Acnologia. He twisted the rabbit's neck and blasted it with a little darkness to make sure it was dead. After his adrenaline rush, he nearly fell over crying, "MEAT! FINALLLLLYYYY! SWEET, SUCCULENT, SAVORY MEAAATTTTT!"

He hastily built a fire and began preparing the rabbit. He used his nails, nails harder than diamonds built to slash through Acnologias thick hide, to cut the rabbit open. He removed the guts of the rabbit out and buried it away from his camp. He cut the head off and used a stick he found nearby to cook the rabbit. After a tense and uncomfortable ten minutes, the rabbit was thoroughly charred and he wolfed it down. He washed the rabbit down with half the canteen of water he had on him. Satisfied with the flesh, he set out once again, his spirits high for finally finding a town and, to a lesser extent, people.

He walked through the field, finding a stream and refilling his canteen. He continued, but soon discovered that the skies above were getting darker and, of course, it started to rain. The rain at first didn't dampen his spirit, but the rain started to pour down. After several hours, he said to himself, "Oh….my…goodness…I…am…literally…gonna…pull…a…fit…if I don't find a town in the next FIVE MINUTES!"

Luck for Zack, he spotted a town in the distance and started to make a run for it. Mid-run, the rain let up and he thought to himself, "Yes, shelter, hot food, a shower, and best of all, A WARM BED all within a few minutes!"

He reached the border of the settlement and started looking for a place to stay for the quickly approaching night. He went to the local bed and breakfast and entered. No one was at the reception desk, but there was a bell with a card that stated "Ring for service". Unsure what to do, he rang the bell and within ten seconds, a clerk arrived. The clerk said, without looking, "Welcome to Plain Bed and Breakfast, how may I-" He was cut off when he saw Zack's midnight black hair and jet black eyes. "Y-you…Zeref? How? Ugh…GET OUT! GET OUT…NOW!" He chased Zack outside then promptly locked the door. Zack thought, "What the hell was THAT all about? Zeref? Who in the world is that? No matter, in a town this big, there HAS to be another place"

However, it was not to be. Every hotel, motel, and rental houses turned him away after just looking at him. After several hours of rejection, he gave up and was about to leave when someone stopped him. "Hey! Where are you going?" an unfamiliar voice asked. This voice was different, not cold or rejecting but warm and kind. He turned around and saw a girl, about the same age as him. She was 5 foot 8 inches and had sky blue eyes with hair white as snow that was kept at shoulder length. Her skin was as milky as his own. Zack was stunned, but managed to say, "Nowhere in particular, I was about to leave, those villagers are harsh…" She replied, "Yeah, I was following you around and saw all of the villagers rejecting you, all because of your eyes. Must be because of Zeref…" He looked back and said, "Well, I have to keep going, find some shelter for the night…unless...you have a better idea"

She stared into his black eyes and stated, "Well…you can come with me! We have room in our hotel and I'll make sure you are not turned away!" Zack just stared and said, "OK…as long as I'm not run out of town with pitchforks and torches" She laughed and exclaimed, "For sure! Oh yeah! I can't permit you to stay without some knowledge"

Zack looked at her and stated, "OK, why not?" She then asked, "First, what is your name? Second, do you know any magic? Third, if you do, what kind is it? And fourth, do you have any money?" Zack replied, "My name is Zack Aeterna. I do know magic, the kind is Dark Dragon Slaying. And no, I do not have any 'money' in fact, what is that?"

She was stunned. She wasn't shocked at the comment about money, but about his magic. A dark dragon slayer? Just like what happened in that dream, the one where…never mind, it has to be a coincidence… She refocused her thoughts on Zack. "Well, a dragon slayer, huh? I haven't seen that magic for over a year, when those mages from Fairy Tail came to help us with a bandit problem…but ended up destroying the town…but they took care of the bandits! Huh? What's wrong Zack?"

Zack was lost in his thoughts and completely zoned out. "Destroy a whole town? Only Acnologia could do that! Are these mages as strong as master? If so, then they are stronger than me! I must find them in order to better my skills!" He focused on the girl. "Well, they sound interesting. Can I meet them?"

She replied, "Well…they live about 5 miles to the west in a town called Magnolia…you can meet them tomorrow, but first! Stay the night here, ok?"

Zack shrugged, "Ok if you say so. Oh, I never caught your name, what is it?"

The girl replied, "It's Aileen. Aileen Tempus. But you can call me Ally." She regarded Zack's features, his spiky black hair and his sad looking black eyes.

Zack looked her over and said, "Ok Ally, two more question. Why are you helping me when all of the villagers turned me away? And who's this Zeref guy? Apparently, I remind the villagers of him."

Ally stayed silent for a moment. She then explained that a long time ago, Zeref had entered the village and slaughtered everyone in sight. When the mages of the town tried to stop him, he killed them all with the cruelest method, infecting them with darkness. The mages slowly died while going insane. "We…we had to kill all of the mages…one of them…my ancestor…my ancient grandmother…tried to fight Zeref with light magic…but was killed by a blast of darkness. After he had killed about 95% of the population, he left, swearing he would come back and finish the job. Ever since, the villagers have lived in mortal fear of all those with black hair and eyes. This is probably why they chased you out of all of their hotels."

Zack stood in silence. "Dark magic? I thought only Acnologia and I knew that magic. Does this mean that he had another apprentice before me?" He regarded Ally again. "Well…this is awkward…but I assure you, I'm not here to kill anybody, I just need a place to stay."

She hit Zack on the head. "Silly, I don't think you're a bad guy and I ALREADY told you where you can stay."

Zack just stared, stunned by how nice she was to him. Never before had anyone been so accepting of his presence… then again…he only saw a few hostile villagers. After a few moments of silence, Zack asked, "So why are you so nice to me when the entire village seems to hate me?"

Ally replied, "Like I said, you look like a nice guy and your magic is interesting. After all, I use magic as well I-."

Zack quickly replied, "You use magic? What kind? Who did you learn from? What element? Thank you, I have finally found someone else with magic…"

"Whoa whoa…slow down Zack. I know magic that bends light to my will. I can use the light to create illusions or create camouflage. I can shoot out light at well…light speed excuse the pun. Uhhhh…my grandmother taught me the magic. She learned from my ancient grandmother herself. The kind? I really don't know. It's not a dragon slaying kind; I guess it's just light magic."

Zack listened and absorbed the information. Light magic? The opposite of my dark magic? And she can shoot it out, similar to what I do… All of a sudden, a sharp pain rang out in his mind when he realized the element of the magic. He cringed but didn't show any pain on the outside, he had suffered worse under Acnologias training. The pain subsided eventually, but it took longer than he thought. It was then he looked around and saw the darkness of night.

Neither realized that the sun had gone down and it was around 7:00 pm. Zack realized first and asked, "Well…can we go? It's pretty dark." Ally looked around and replied, "Ok…hey Zack? What's wrong with your body?" Zack looked down and noticed the darkness clinging to him, a side effect of the dark essence he absorbed all those years ago. He lied, "It's an effect of my magic, ignore it" It seemed Ally accepted this explanation and they departed for Ally's place.

Ten minutes later

The duo arrived at the lodgings. It was then Zack realized something and asked, "What about your parents? I don't want to cause any more trouble. Won't they chase me away when they see my looks or heaven forbid, my magic?"

Ally just looked at him with sad eyes and stated, "My parents are dead, they left for a job and never came back…Ever since, I've lived by myself taking odd jobs but I've never left the village. However, I've always wanted to join a guild for mages. Maybe there, I could find some sort of family…"

He realized how similar they were to each other, both parent dead and all alone in a world unfamiliar to the both of them. After a few moments, Ally opened the door and they entered. The place was small, with just one bedroom and bathroom. The living and dining rooms were lightly decorated and Zack found it comfortable, it for some reason reminded him of his old home, back at his village. His nostalgia was cut short when Ally called out from the kitchen, "Sorry, I don't have much food so I can't offer dinner. We'll have to go to sleep right away. You can sleep in the living room, you have a mat right?"

He replied, "I do. I'll just sleep on the floor then. Besides, I'm used to it, so I'll be comfortable." Though…sleeping with another human would be nice… he thought to himself.

"Ok then, goodnight Zack!" Ally went into her own room. "Yeah…goodnight Ally…" Zack lied down for the night and immediately drifted to sleep.

The next morning around 5:00 in the morning

He awoke at his usual time and noticed something strange. "My mat…why is it so soft? Wait…this doesn't feel like the living room…a pillow? I don't remember that…WHERE AM I?!" He opened his eyes and immediately saw Ally's sleeping face. He blushed and as quietly as he could, got off of her bed and went into the living room. "What? Why did I do that? Did I want human contact THAT BADLY!?... And that moment when I woke up…my face was hot…what was that? I don't have a fever or an illness. Weird…" He quickly dismissed the sensation and packed his things. He was about to leave, but realizing Ally's kindness, he waited for Ally to wake up so he could properly thank her.

Two hours later

She finally woke up and went into the bathroom to get ready. Zack said, "Hurry up, I have a proposition for you!" She complied out of curiosity and got ready in ten minutes. Ally went to Zack and asked, "Ok, what is it?" Zack replied, "Ok then, you're lonely right?" She nodded. "And you want to join a guild right?" She nodded again. "Well then, how about you come with me to Fairy Tail? I can meet those guys and you can apply for the guild, sound good?"

She smiled and stated, "Yeah sounds good! But…I don't know anything about the outside world…" He replied, "Don't worry I'll protect you against anything out there. I got this; you'll be safe under me." She looked into his eyes and smiled once again. "Yeah…thank you Zack!" She hugged him and went to pack her stuff.

Zack was left in the room by himself. He thought to himself, "That's…the first time anyone's ever hugged me. Heh…it feels nice…wait, what? What's this…feeling?...Huh…must be nothing."

He stood in silence for fifteen more minutes before Ally reemerged. She had on a traveler's shirt, jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a simple cap. As for luggage, she carried just one messenger bag. "Ok then! I'm ready to go! I left the note for the landlord and my final month's rent. Funny, it was the last of all of my money." And with that thought, they left for the 5 mile trek to Magnolia, Zack leading the way and Ally trailing behind.

After about twenty minutes of silence, Zack decided to ask a question. "How did your grandmother train you in using light magic?"

She answered, "Well…first I had to learn about the light all around me, from the sun, lamps, or even from living organisms. Yes, believe it or not, all living things emit some light even if it is small. Grandmother called this the light in all hearts, a light that will never die out no matter how close the darkness gets. It took me a while, but I eventually was able to sense light from all things. After that, all of the training came easily. I just had to learn how to bend the light I sensed to my own will. Now I can form swords, spears, shields, and a healing light."

Zack let the entire information sink in and eventually asked, "A little light…in everyone's hearts? Can…can you sense mine?"

"Sure! I'd like to see how your heart looks like! I bet it'll look just like your master. After all, most hearts take the form of the person the owner has the most connections to." She said and started to concentrate. When she did, she saw only darkness in Zack's heart. She saw only pure, raw darkness that was starting to take form, a form bigger than Zack's. She realized that the light in her own heart was starting a reaction in his, the form was starting to twist and reform itself, into the thing she feared most, the thing she saw in her dream two weeks ago. And then Zack shook her out of her trance, a sincerely worried look plastered on his face.

Zack was worried about Ally, after looking into his heart; she slipped into unconsciousness only mumbling a few words. The words were in a jumble, she muttered them all at once, and he swore he could hear his name in the mess. When he asked what happened, Ally looked confused and only told him that she couldn't remember.

"But…" She started, "There was something, something in your heart, and I don't remember seeing ANY light. How strange, I usually see light in even the cruelest of people, but yours is completely devoid of brightness." Zack only stared. He thought to himself, "It must be an effect of the essence, getting rid of the light in my heart? How strange…no worries, the darkness will never overtake me, my heart's too strong." He regarded Ally once again, "Heh, don't worry about it, master taught me a lot about dealing with the darkness in my heart, it won't take control of me. I promise you."

She regarded his declaration with some distrust. The thing she saw was a monster, a being someone event trained in the darkness couldn't completely control. However, she just smiled and thought that Zack could handle it, and if he couldn't, then her light could. Grandmother did say Ally's light was the strongest in the land after all. They continued their trek without another word. Zack was busy trying to understand what Ally might have seen and Ally trying to remember what she saw in the first place. After three miles, they realized their hunger with each of their stomachs growling at the same time. Zack looked down embarrassed and then looked back at Ally. "I'll catch something, wait here." Ally looked at him, "NO! I want to go with you, ok? I want to see you hunt!" Zack looked in shock, "Ummm…ok then…just stay safe, alright?" She smiled and agreed.

They left into the forest and started looking for fresh meat. After about twenty minutes of searching, they chanced upon a great elk deer. "Damn it…I can't bring that thing down on my own…oh well, I'll have to look for something else." Then he saw Ally dash at the deer and conjured a light so bright, that everything was just a flash for a few seconds. When he regained his vision, he saw Ally cutting the deer with multiple swords and spears all made up of light. She looked back at Zack and called, "I COULD USE SOME HELP OVER HERE!"

Zack smiled and summoned darkness into his hand. "DARK DRAGON'S LEECH BARRAGE!" Several dark spheres shot out of his hands and crashed into the deer, sapping out all of its energy and stopping its heart. The deer fell with a heavy thud. The duo smiled at each other and started the cooking process on the deer. After two hours, the deer was ready and thirty minutes later, it was all done. Satisfied, the duo casually chatted about their pasts and their lives before they met the day before. Ally sounded pretty normal, she grew up in the village all her life and after her parents died, she's been living on her own. When he told her his story, well, let's just say the scene wasn't that pretty. She almost cried because of his sad past, however, he comforted her and they talked casually after that. An hour later, they saw Magnolia in the distance.

"ALRIGHT! FINALLY! WE'RE HERE! WOOOOOO!" Zack shouted to no one in particular. Ally couldn't help but smile at his reaction. "Ha, he reminds me so much of…wait…who? I…don't have a brother, right?..." She remained lost in thought until Zack shouted, "LET'S GO! I WANNA MEET THE STRONG MAGES!" He raced into town with Ally right at his heels. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea where the guild was, so they decided to ask the locals. Lucky for the duo, none of the residents of Magnolia seemed to recognize Zack and his resemblance to Zeref. They were able to quickly track down the guild and arrived at the front doors.

"Wow…they're pretty loud. Are they…fighting?" Zack asked as he listened in on the guild. Ally laughed. "No silly. They just get into fights all the time. The reasons are far and wide; sometimes they fight just to blow off some steam. Oh yeah! By the way, whatever you do, don't pick a fight with this guy with pink hair and fire powers; I heard he's really powerful."

Zack just smiled. "Alrighty then, you're the expert on this guild. Ready to go in and meet them?" Ally smiled back and said, "Yup! Let's go!" With their minds made up, they opened the doors and entered Fairy Tail.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Impressions

The first thing they noticed was the massive amounts of fire and ice flying around the guild; there was frozen chairs and burned tables. In the midst of the catastrophe of heat and cold were two male teens glaring intensely at each other. Based on the amount of damage, the burns on the ice boy, and the ice patches on the fire boy, the battle was quite serious. The rest of the guild members all stood back at a respectable distance; in fact, there was a woman with a barrel of what looked like beer that was taking…bets? Zack was about to go to the woman and ask why she was taking bets, but all of a sudden, the fire boy yelled, "ADMIT IT GRAY! THAT PIECE OF APPLE PIE WAS MINE! HOW DARE YOU STEAL IT!"

Ice boy yelled back with the same magnitude, "NATSU YOU DUMBASS! YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE APPLE PIE!"

"SHUT UP! YOU DID IT JUST TO PISS ME OFF! WELL, TAKE THIS! FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Natsu shot out a wave of fire from his gaping mouth. Zack was taken back.

"Fire? And it looks like the wave of darkness I can shoot out of my mouth…is that…dragon slaying magic? I haven't seen magic like that my whole life. This guy, I must fight him to gauge my own strength." He was about to approach Natsu until Ally stopped him.

"Hey, don't you remember? Don't take him on; he's much more powerful than you, ok? Just trust me, I read reports detailing his battles. Apparently, he's taken down guild masters, evil masterminds, countless monsters, and even the strongest member of this guild, Laxus, the lightning dragon slayer."

Zack looked back at Ally and just nodded. "Ok then, I'll just talk to him, but I want to break up this fight so I can at least approach him without getting frozen or torched. Besides, it's too loud right now." With that, he approached the two raging guild members.

Natsu and Gray were about to finish each other off as Zack ended his chat with Ally. "FIRE DRAGON'S FLARE CLAW!" "ICE MAKE HAMMER!" Just as they were about to collide, Zack called out, "That's enough. You two need to calm down sooooo, DEATH DRAGON'S LEECH BARRAGE!" The dark spheres shot out of his hands and hit their targets. Both Gray and Natsu fainted, their energy and magic drained. Zack stood over them and said to the startled guild members, "Don't worry, they're not dead, they just fainted." He then noticed everybody just staring at him. "_Huh? What is it? Is it my magic? Maybe they're not accustomed to dark magic._"

He bowed and said, "I'm sorry if I startled you all, my name is Zack Aeterna and I would like to join this guild." He was suddenly surrounded by all the guild members who all asked him questions at once. "Whoa! That move took out Natsu and Gray in one hit! What is it?" "Another dragon slayer? What dragon are you supposed to kill?" "Who taught you?" "Where are you from?" The questions went on and on when all of a sudden, a voice somewhere around Ally rang out, "WHO DID THIS TO MY COMRADES?!"

Ally jumped and stared at an armored lady with quite a mean look on her face. "WELL!? WHO?!" A guild member with a book in hand looked up with fear and pointed at Zack, "Ummmmm…it was this guy Erza, but-" She never finished, Erza jumped up, ex-quipped into a form with countless swords, and jumped at Zack.

Zack just smiled and started dodging, appreciating a fight with an enemy who wasn't a monster or animal. He effortlessly dodged the swords using his dark powers to make a shield which blocked the odd sword that got through his dodging. After ten minutes, he started to tire out and Erza noticed, speeding up and increasing the amount of sword strikes. Zack fell down and was about to be murdered when a cage of light surrounded Erza. Ally smiled at the caged swordswoman and said, "Slow down, we just met and I think we need to start over. This is Zack and while he did strike down your comrades, they're not dead, just asleep."

Zack just laid down, completely embarrassed with his performance in the brief battle. _I lost?! Grrrr… How could I…all of my training with Acnologia, all of those days and nights sparring with him and this swordswoman beat me? I guess…I am inexperienced in the ways of the world, are there people stronger than her in this world? Oh well…at least these people are strong. Heh, this should be interesting. _He looked up to see Ally giving him her hand. He smiled and took it, propping himself up to his feet. He glared at Erza and swore to himself he would beat her one day. Then a friendlier looking woman stepped up to him and said, "Hello! Thank you for calming Gray and Natsu down, that actually very impressive! Are you here to join the guild?"

Zack looked down, unsure what to say to someone else being so friendly to him. Ally looked at him and, recognizing the awkwardness in his actions, spoke up, "Yes we are, how do we apply?"

The lady smiled and replied, "Just come with me, I'll sort everything out for you. Then you get a guild stamp and then we have to arrange living accommodations. Simple enough, right? Oh yeah, my name's Mira"

Zack remained silent and Ally had to speak up for him again, "Yup! Seems simple enough, let's go Zack!" She took his hand and led him to where Mira was going.

*A few minutes later*

Mira looked at the duo and asked, "So, now that the papers are over and done with, where do you want your guild stamp stamped?"

Ally replied, "Hmmmm…let's see. How about on my left arm?" Mira stamped the symbol on Ally's arm between the biceps and triceps on the outside. Mira then turned to Zack, "How about you?"

Zack stayed silent and pointed to his left eye. Mira stayed silent and finally said, "No one's ever chosen that spot for the stamp before…but whatever floats your boat." She took the stamp and placed the sign on Zack's left eye where, with his jet black pupils, the symbol seemed full even when his eye was open.

Once the stamps were placed, Zack, Ally, and Mira all returned to the main guild hall. Afterwards, Zack left to look for a place to stay. After a few hours, he found a place of residence. He decided to live in a small one bedroom apartment that lacked a kitchen but had a bathroom and a small living room. The price was cheap at only 3,000 jewels per month which was a steal. Ally would try to find a place after she got a look at the guild. Zack returned to the guild after a few hours and took a spot next to Ally looking down at the floor. Whenever someone asked about him, she just replied that he was being shy.

However, Zack was feeling something different. _What is this? This stabbing pain in my heart, the darkness is…angry? Why? I've only been using dark magic. The friendliness, is that causing the pain? Argh, it feels like the darkness is trying to take over my mind. Grrr…stay calm…I will not let it take me over. Not yet at least, not until it is absolutely necessary, just like Acnologia said…_

*Flashback 8 years*

Acnologia regarded Zack, who was suffering from overusing the dark powers inside of him. "Grrrr….idiot child, what the hell were you thinking? Using the dark to that extent. Not even I could have handled that amount of darkness without a little consequence…oh well, impressive nonetheless boy, you make a good apprentice."

Just then, Zack woke up and Acnologia regarded him, saying, "Do not EVER do that again unless the situation is desperate enough, got it? Every time you use the darkness in your heart, it grows a little stronger. Eventually, although it shouldn't happen to you for centuries, it will grow too strong and you will lose your sanity, attacking everyone in the vicinity, especially those you consider allies. Be careful when making friends because who knows? You might end up being their deaths."

*End Flashback*

Zack dwelled on Acnologia's words until the stabbing pain came back. He grimaced trying his best to hide his pain from everyone in the guild. He fought it and won after a few minutes, the darkness retreating into his heart. He stood next to Ally until Mira came back and asked, "Why don't you guys join a team? It'd make the jobs easier and you'll have more fun in the long run."

Ally looked at Zack who remained silent. She sighed and regarded Mira, "Ok then! That sounds like a plan, but we don't know anyone here. Do you have any recommendations?"

Mira grinned and said, "Yes I do! Follow me!"

They followed Mira deeper into the guild to a group of five people standing around the board advertising the jobs the guild members could take. Zack looked up and noticed three very familiar faces, one with pink hair, one with armor and red hair, and the other with dark hair though not as dark as his. He realized that these people were part of the group that he had "quieted down" when he entered. _What?! Why them of all people, the two I drained of energy and the armored lady… and who are those other two? A kid and a blond? What is Mira planning? _Zack quietly cursed to himself and decided to follow along. Mira stopped the duo and told them to stay back for a second. She then approached the team.

Mira tapped Natsu on the shoulder and told the group, "Do you mind taking in two more people? They REALLY want to join and are great with magic, they'll be a big help to your team."

Natsu and Gray were about to voice their disapproval when Erza spoke up, "Of course, a bigger team would make jobs easier, and fresh faces are always welcome, right everyone?" Both Natsu and Gray cursed _Tch, she beat me to the decision, oh well…new faces are always interesting and besides…it's not like we can do anything to change her decision... _The team voiced their approval and waited for Mira to return with Zack and Ally.

She approached the two with a smile and told them that they were able to join the team. Ally seemed happy to join the most famous team in Fairy Tail, but Zack looked scared, VERY SCARED. "Zack? What's wrong?"

_Why did they say yes!? Arrrgghh…I can't face them again, they'll probably attack me again. But…Ally seems happy with the idea, so I guess I'll go along with it. _He nodded and started to walk to where his new team stood waiting.

As soon as he saw Zack, Natsu jumped up and screamed, "YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KNOCKED ME OUT!" Gray looked as well and yelled, "HEY, YEAH! YOU DRAINED ME OF MY ENERGY!" They jumped at Zack who just sighed and almost casually cried out, "Death Dragon's Dark Claw!" Ten strips of darkness shot out of his fingers and he leaped at Gray and Natsu, swiping at them in their vulnerable position in the air. The two fell, their energy drained for the second time in one day. "There," Zack declared ignoring the pain in his heart, "hopefully that'll keep them calm until next time" He turned and regarded the other three, "Hello, I'm your new teammate, hope we all get along." He bowed and looked back up to see all three staring at him. "Uhhhh…what is it?"

The little girl said almost with awe, "Did you just say Death Dragon?" He looked back and said, "Yeeeeeeeessss?" They all looked at Zack, "So then, your mentor was a dragon?" Zack replied, "Yes…" "Just like Wendy, Natsu, and Gajeel?" Zack was stunned, "There's three here? What elements are they?" Erza replied, "Sky, Fire, and Metal respectively"

Zack remained silent while Ally said, "Nice to meet you all, I'm Ally Tempus and this is Zack Aeterna." The group (minus Natsu and Gray) nodded and Erza replied, "Of course! We forgot to introduce ourselves, I am Erza Scarlett" The blond girl smiled, "My name is Lucy Heartfilia nice to meet you two!" The little girl looked up, "My name is Wendy Marvell, and hello Ally and Zack!"

Ally smiled and said, "Nice to meet you all. Zack? Is there anything else you want to say to our new teammates?" Zack just stared at Ally and, finally realizing what she meant, looked at Natsu and Gray, "Sorry you two, here's some energy back. Dark Dragon's Energy Gift" Two spheres shot out of his hands and entered the two fallen mages' bodies. About two seconds later, they all stood up. "Huh? Wha?" They both looked at Zack who smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, but you guys charged me first, remember?" Natsu was about to say something like _How did you do that!? Drain my energy? That's new! _But instead smiled back and said, "Eh, no biggie, besides, you're right, we're the ones who charged into the fight without an ounce of thought about the consequences. Anyways, name's Natsu Dragneel" He held out a fist for a fist bump but Zack just stared at it awkwardly. "Uuuuhhhh…do you want to fight again?" Natsu laughed and replied, "No, dummy, it's a bro fist" Zack stared, "Bro…fist? What is that?" Gray interrupted, "Dude, it's a sign of companionship and Natsu's only way of showing friendliness" Natsu glared at Gray and said, "Shut up Gray. Anyway, just hit it with your fist, minus the dark energy of course" Zack continued staring but understood. He hit Natsu's fist and smiled. _Well…must be a way of the world I'm out of touch with…what else changed?..._

Just then, Gray approached Zack, "Hey man, name's Gray Fullbuster." He held out his hand signaling…a what? Zack was still confused. "I'm sorry…but what am I supposed to do with this hand signal?" All the girls laughed and Natsu laughed while Gray face palmed. "Dude, you're really sheltered aren't you?" Zack looked down embarrassed, "Yes, I've been raised by master for the past eleven years; he kept me in a valley and trained me in the art of darkness"

Natsu's eyes shot up, "Wait a minute, eleven years? Then that means he left you only recently right!?" Zack remained uneasy, "That's correct, he left for no reason about two months ago. He told me to leave the valley and travel across the land bettering myself. I traveled and found myself here with the help of her." He pointed at Ally who was chatting with the other girls of the team. Natsu scowled, "So he's gone, eh? Tch…and to think I might've gotten some info on Ignis…" Zack recognized the name, "Ignis? The fire dragon? Huh…Acnologia never talked about him, he just called him a weak dragon who grew soft over the years and only left to get back his previous ferociousness." Natsu stared back completely oblivious to the insult made to Ignis, "A…Acnologia? The strongest dragon around? Ignis…often talked about him. He told me to stay away from him. Acnologia only brings death and destruction to the areas he razes and all those associated with him must be avoided like the plague."

Zack just chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't bring harm to any of you, just trust me on that, ok? You are my comrades now." _You know that's a lie~What? Who was that? _He searched within but found nothing. When he looked back up, he saw Gray with no shirt on. "Hm? Is this a tradition of showing battle scars?" Gray regarded Zack, "No, this is just a force of habit, something my teacher taught me. Why?"

Zack looked down, "Well…I have a scar, but I couldn't explain it, could you guys take a look?" The two looked at each other, shrugged, then nodded. The others overheard and came over as well. Lucy spoke up; "Maybe I could help you, After all, I've read quite a few books in my time" Zack nodded and took off his shirt. The first thing Ally noticed was how fit Zack was and, quite noticeably, squealed. She felt her face go hot and looked away; expecting teasing at any moment, _Oh boy, here comes the hurricane… _However, the teasing never came and she looked up curious as to the reason why. She then saw his scars. 

There were two scars around his chest area forming a cross like shape with a rune inscribed on the skin of his chest. The rune was decahedral (ten-sided) in shape with a hexagon in the middle followed by a square then a triangle. The scars ran down his torso, stopping at the stomach area, up both of his arms, stopping at the shoulders, and up to his neck. All of the people in the new team gasped. Lucy trembled, "I…I've never seen a rune like that before in any of my readings" The rest except for Ally stared in stunned silence. Ally thought, _No, not that shape. That dream, is it coming true!? Then that means…I have to protect Zack from whatever I saw in his heart, though I don't remember…Wait, don't panic, there's still a third trait I have to find out about him…is that trait is true as well…then we've got a serious problem on our hands…_

To be continued

* * *

**Me: Hello, I know it's a little late for intros, but better late than never! In terms of names...eventually I'll call myself a different name, but for now, call me seto, aight? *bows*  
**

**Zack: ...Why'd you give me such a weird scar?**

**Me: Reasons shall be withheld for spoilers. Trust me, there's a VERY important meaning behind your scar Zack. Oh! BTW loyal reader, this is NOT Zack from Crisis Core, just an OC. In case any if ya were confused. But really? The description back in Ch. 1 should have given it away... :T**

**Zack: Well, thank you for not basing me off of anybody, completely original, right? Cause I hate it when people base off their characters on other people.**

**Me: *laughs nervously*Yeah...let's go with that _**

**Zack: WHAT!? *pulls out death dragon dark claws and chases seto***

**Me: AHHHHHHH! DX *runs***

**Ally: *steps in front of Zack* Come on Zack, leave seto alone, he's not that creative.**

**Me: *hiding behind Ally* Thank you Ally...**

**Me: Uhhhh...in terms of other information...Zack's last name (Aeterna) means Eternal in Latin and Ally's (Tempus) means Time in Latin. Hmmm... a better description of how they look like will be in the next chapters but for now, I'm tired. =_=**

**Ally: WAIT! ONE QUESTION!**

**Me: O_o...uhhh...ok then what is it?**

**Ally: Will there be anybody else in these chats?**

**Me: That's a seeeecretttttt... just wait young padawan.**

**Zack and Ally: -_-**

**Me: So anyway...see y'all laters! And see that review button? Hint, hint... Pssssstttt...push it :D**


	4. Chapter 3-5

**Chapter 3.5-Chat with seto**

**Me: RAWR! :D Hello reader(s), I'm wide awake now, so I can talk for a longer amount of time.**

**Zack and Ally: *Claps***

**Me: Thank you, thank you *bows* Anyways, I have decided to take these chats every 2-3 chapters with some mini-conversations in each chapter. Discussions will range from updates to random stuff.**

**Zack: So what is this one about?**

**Me: Random things.**

**Ally: Of course.**

**Me: Yup! :D Let's see…inspiration for Zack and Ally? Well, Zack popped into my mind about a year ago when I first read about Acnologia. I thought, "Hmmm, he doesn't accept any humans, but what if he actually tutored one in the dark arts?" I immediately got thinking and soon, Zack was born. His physical body is based off of Zack from KH Birth By Sleep. But I swear! The name came to my mind before KH Zack came along and the powers, pupils, and hair color are different! In terms of dimensions:**

**Height: About 5'11'' **

**Hair Color: Midnight Black, spiky like Zack from KH BBB**

**Pupil Color: Jet Black**

**Body Structure: Lean like Natsu**

**Skin Color: Milky white**

**Outfit: Black t-shirt with an open black sweater that contains one sleeve. He also wears navy blue shorts that reach to just below his knees. In terms of shoes, he rocks a pair of black sandals.**

**Ally is a completely original character. I tried to come up with someone to balance the darkness in Zack and Ally came along. I seriously debated whether to make Ally or Allen, but eventually decided on Ally. Besides, making her a girl opens up several possibilities, yeah? ;D *ahem* Anyway, here's her description:**

**Height: About 5'7"**

**Hair Color: Snow White, flat and reaches her shoulders (Think Lisanna, but slightly longer)**

**Pupil Color: Sky Blue**

**Body Structure: Errrr…how do I make this not sound awkward?... Well…think of a body like Lisanna's again, aight?**

**Skin Color: Milky White like Zack**

**Outfit: Errrr…I don't know about girl's clothes…Let's see here…A skirt like Lucy's but slightly longer (reaches to the top of her knees), a white t-shirt with a design showing a dragon, and a white jacket that covers all parts of her torso.**

**Me: And there we go.**

**Zack: You ever gonna draw us? I want to see how I look like.**

**Me: NOPE! I can't draw to save my life!**

**Ally: Why don't you ask the readers? I'm sure they could come up with some good drawings.**

**Me: Hmmmmm…but I don't wanna show my e-mail in a story, I might get spammed D:**

**Zack: Right…you don't like spam…**

**Me: Who does? Anyway, if you, dear reader(s) are not afraid of spam, like me, then leave your e-mails in a review. I'll send you mine and from there, we could collaborate. Send in a drawing I like, and I might post it at the title of the story.**

**Zack: Sounds like a good plan. But…I still feel apprehensive about something.**

**Ally: Yeah…something feels like it's just waiting to go wrong.**

**Me: Hmmm…eh, whatever, this was (and probably will be the only) formal "chat with seto," so, laters y'all and always remember, hit dat review button, I'd appreciate some feedback. ;D Byeeeeee!**

**Zack: Catch ya on the flip side!**

**Ally: Y'all come back now, y'hear!? **


	5. Chapter 4

**Me: I MESSED UP WITH ZACK'S HEIGHT! NUUUUUUUUUU! I'M SORRY READERS!**

**Zack: Wha? What are you talking about now?**

***Flash Back***

**Me: *looking at Chapter One* …..! What!? I said that Zack was 5'6'' and then in 3-5 I said 5'11''! NOOOOOOO! **

***End Flashback***

**Me: And I messed up with Ally's height too! I said 5'8'' in Chapter 1 and then 5'7'' in 3-5! *sobbing***

**Ally: O_o It's ok seto…**

**Me: NO it's not! *wailing***

**Zack and Ally: *face palms then regards readers* Please forgive seto, he's kinda OCD about this kind of stuff. But no worries! We'll have this figured out by the end of the chapter. For now, enjoy the new style seto is writing these chapters in! :D**

* * *

Chapter 4-First FULL Day

**Zack's POV**

I groaned as I woke up in my new apartment. The setting was nice because of the darkness my room had due to the fact there was only one window. However, this time, there was something different, a sort of pitter patter sound. I looked outside and saw that it was raining, no, pouring was the better term. I stared into the rain for about three minutes. _Hmm, reminds me of the day Acnologia destroyed my village. Just you wait dragon, I'll kill you soon enough. _

After a few minutes, I got up and changed into my normal set of clothes. Despite the rain, I still enjoyed wearing shorts and my one-sleeved jacket with just a t-shirt. I decided to wear my sandals; they were water resistant anyway. I exited my room and ran into Ally who sleeps in the living room. She was already dressed and ready to go even though it was only 8 in the morning. She beamed a smile that seemed to light up the whole room despite the rain, "Good morning Zack. You ready to leave for the guild, we have to meet the rest of the guild members, remember?" She pouted, "You're up late, and I've been waiting"

I looked back a little embarrassed, "Oh really? Sorry about that, I was exhausted…" She just showed her amazing smile again, "No worries, let's just go, ok?" I nodded and left for the guild with Ally.

**Ally's POV**

As soon as I stepped out of the door, I noticed how much it was raining. "AHHH! It's pouring! How? It was so sunny yesterday, not a cloud in the sky…" I sighed, "And I never got the chance to buy an umbrella or raincoat."

Zack just stayed silent and asked, "Would you like an umbrella?" I nodded. "Well, this is not an umbrella in the strictest sense, but it works for me." He reached into the sky "Dark Dragon's Sky Barrier!" A half circle of darkness sprouted out of his outstretched arms creating a shield like barrier which kept the rain off. I looked back at Zack to thank him but noticed he had this far-out look and seemed depressed. "You ok?" He looked back and just smiled at me, "I'm fine, this rain isn't TOO bothersome. Besides, this isn't the worst I've been through. C'mon, let's go."

After a few minutes in the rain and halfway to the guild, I started shivering. _Dang it's cold…and I STILL don't have a jacket to wear… how does Zack manage to keep warm? He's wearing shorts! _I cursed at myself for not buying a jacket when all of a sudden, Zack held me close to him. I felt my face getting hot and asked, "W-what are you doing? T-this was uncalled for!" He looked back at me, "You were shivering which means you were cold, correct?" I nodded. "Acnologia told me that the most efficient way to warm another person if shelter is not in the immediate area is to share body heat via an embrace." He noticed me blushing and said "You don't mind, do you? If you do, I'll stop."

I shook my head "No, this is fine; you're warmer than I thought you'd be…" He tilted his head "Huh? What does that mean?" I looked away "N-nothing! Let's just get to the guild!" We continued walking to the guild in silence, me under Zacks "umbrella" and holding him with Zack just standing there keeping me dry. After about ten minutes, we reached the guild. Zack retracted his "umbrella" and let go of me, which left me a little disappointed. We entered the guild and immediately felt a wave of depression wash over us. The guild was quiet…A LOT quieter than usual. No rowdy ruckus, no arguing, not even guild brawling which was DEFINITELY strange. We both looked at each other and I imagined we thought the same thing _This is…new… _We decided to meet up with our new team for information and maybe meet some of our new guild mates. We found them huddled in a group of people neither Zack nor I knew. Zack hung back a little, showing off his shyness for the billionth time, so I had to approach to introduce ourselves. I dragged Zack along as usual. We approached the group and were about to introduce ourselves when a member groaned "WHY IS IT RAINING!? DAMN IT WHEN IT RAINS, THERE'S NO JOBS TO TAKE AND THE WHOLE PLACE JUST REEKS OF DEPRESSION" He looked up at us "What are you lookin at?" I snapped out of my daze and bowed "My name is Ally and this," I pulled Zack next to me and forced him to bow, "is Zack. We are new here and are pleased to meet you all"

The guild members just laughed. "No need for the formality, just a hello would have sufficed!" A man approached us and held out his hand. "Name's Macao." After we shook his hand (Zack learned about this custom fully from Ally) he pointed to the group. "This is Jet, Droy, Juvia, you probably know Gray, and Levy" They all looked up at Ally and Zack. Jet pointed out "You remind me of this guild member we had way back when we were still kids…What was her name? Mira and Elfman's little sister?... Oh yeah! Lisanna, you look ALOT like her"

Ally was a little shocked "Really? Can I meet her?" The whole group (except Juvia) looked down. Gray regarded Ally "She's dead, has been for a long time" Ally immediately knew she had traversed to a touchy subject so she regarded Juvia. "Hello! Your name's Juvia, right?" She nodded. Ally started conversing with her not noticing Zack drifting away.

**Zack's POV**

_Tch…these people…why are they so depressed? It's just a little rain…I think I'll go and look at the job list, might as well get a head start on my rent._

I walked away from Ally and went towards the board with the jobs. I took a gander (lol, gander :P [seto]) and noticed one where a town mayor was asking for help with some bandits? _Heh, that sounds very familiar. Let's see it sounds easy enough and it's paying off 5,000 jewels so it should be enough for the rent. _

I tore off the paper and was about to go back when someone stepped in front of him. "Hey punk noob, I heard you defeated Natsu in battle." I nodded slowly, apprehensive of a fight. "Heh, come with me. I have a surprise for you" He led me out of the guild to what looked like a training field. Despite the rain, he continued to the field. I was still cautious, so I put the job slip into my pocket and looked back at the guild member. Looks like I got my wish of a fight because the next thing I knew, the stranger lunged forward with metal sticking out of his hands. "YOU ASSHOLE! DEFEATING HIM IS MY JOB!"

I sighed, "Getting worked up, are we? You're loud and obnoxious as well. Fine then, you want to fight? I'll end you in two minutes" I summoned darkness in my hands and shot them out at the attacker (Reminder, this is Leech Barrage [seto]) expecting a quick victory. However, he blocked it with his metal. _Tch, I forgot! I need to score a direct hit on the body for this to work! _(For those of you who thought this move was OP lol IT HAS A WEAKNESS NOW! [seto]) The metal wielder smirked. "I KNEW IT!" He lunged again. "IRON DRAGON'S CLUB DIVE!" (Sorry! I don't know if this a real attack! _ just imagine him sprouting two iron clubs out of his arms [seto]) I saw the incoming iron and cried, "DEATH DRAGON'S DARK CLAW!" The darkness shot out of my fingers just as the attacker was about to strike. _No time to shield myself… no choice! Gotta block with my arms! _

I held up my arms just as the clubs slammed down like a guillotine. I managed to block his club dive but sustained serious injuries to my arms. "OUCH! THAT HURT YOU IDIOT!" I sprouted out my dark claws again and slashed at the iron man (LOL IRONMAN [seto]). I felt the attack hit him squarely on the side, but his energy wasn't draining. In fact, my hands started to hurt. What? I looked back at my hands and noticed the dark was chipping away. _WHAT!? THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE! _

I looked back at the iron attacker and noticed his skin was turning into metal. "Heh, surprised? My skin is supposed to reflect the roar of an iron dragon, your puny darkness is NOTHING!" "Geh…I didn't know that…Fine then…I'll just have to try something new. DEATH DRAGON'S DARK DIVE!" I lept at the attacker while spinning some darkness around me. However, he just grinned and stood there, ready and waiting for the attack. This action caused my anger to flare. _How dare he mock me!_ I rammed into his torso and felt the attack hit home. Then my head started to ache, the darkness started to fade, and his body remained at the same spot. He looked down at me. "Gi hee hee, iron body, remember?" I braced myself for an attack knowing I was about to take MASSIVE DAMAGE.

**Ally's POV **

I looked at the group of guild people and, feeling awkward, asked "So, can you tell me more about the guild?" Gray looked at me and shrugged. "Sure, you're new here, so you might as well know the history of our guild. Well…I'll just tell you what we have done so far, not much" I smiled at him "Thank you" I looked around for Zack but saw he slipped away from me. I pouted "Stupid Zack, leaving when he should be conversing with the guild….Oh well, I'll tell him later" I looked back at Gray and nodded, showing I was ready to listen.

He started, "Well, the majority of us joined in our younger days about ten years ago. I myself arrived after my master gave her life to seal away my darkness Deliora, an unstoppable demon that destroyed my hometown." _Huh, Gray's story reminds me of Zack, a darkness to seal away…just like what I might have to do for him…oh! I gotta pay attention! _"Natsu arrived after his dragon guardian, Igneel, disappeared without a trace. Erza appeared one day pretty much out of nowhere and Lucy…followed Natsu in." _Hee hee, just like me I'll have to thank Zack for that. _

"In terms of misadventures, our first one had to do with a dark guild trying to use an artifact called lullaby which would kill anyone within the artifact's listening range. It was a tough battle, but Natsu was able to defeat him with an amazing use of his fire. Next was when Natsu and Lucy took an S-class job without permission to Galuna Island. I was sent to stop them, but got into the job myself. Erza showed up next and almost took us home until we discovered Deliora under the island. My old friend Leon almost freed Deliora but thankfully was stopped by our group. After that, we had to stop a betrayal by the guild master's son, Laxus or the lightning dragon slayer. Then we stopped a group of dark guild members from destroying an alliance made by our guilds. THEN we travelled to another dimension called Edolas where our magic was taken away, but we stopped the king from turning our friends into lachryma" (Sorry if I spelled that wrong! [seto]) I gaped at Gray, "ALL THAT!? Wow…impressive…this guild is amazing!"

Lucy smiled proudly, "We ARE great, aren't we?" I was about to reply but this blue cat popped out of nowhere, "Not you Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Natsu do the work" Lucy chased away the cat while I laughed…A LOT. After I calmed down, I asked who that cat was. Wendy replied, "That's Happy, Natsu's Exceed. I have one too, her name is Charle. Gajeel, our iron dragon slayer, has one called Pantherlilly" "YOU ALL HAVE EXCEEDS?" She smiled, "Yup!" I was about to ask for more when I heard an explosion out the back of the guild. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" I heard someone say, "HEY! GAJEEL AND THE NEW GUY ARE FIGHTING!" Everybody all rushed to the back to see what all the commotion was. I just stood still and face palmed. _C'mon Zack, we're supposed to get along with them and here you are fighting. First Natsu and Gray and now this Gajeel guy? Ah well, you said you wanted to grow stronger._ I followed them out back.

**Zack's POV**

_Gaaaahhhh! That roar hit me in the face! Goddammit that hurt! Whoa! _I dodged an incoming iron pillar. _This guy never lets up! _All of a sudden, he lunged straight for my face!

I started up a block but he stopped about four feet in front of me. "He he, IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!" A wave of metal shot out of his mouth straight at me! _S**T! My block won't be good enough! I have to use the darkness again…Grrrrr… _"Death Dragon's Void Shield!" A shield-like dark shape rose in front of me sucking in the metal roar. When the metal faded, the attacker was stunned. "Huh!? WHERE'D IT GO?!" I snickered which caused him to glare at me. "WHAT!? WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!?"

"Heh heh, fool. IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" I transferred the metal to behind him and shot out the roar. It hit him square in the back knocking him down on his face and causing him to black out for five seconds. However, he bounded back up to his feet. Fortunately for me, I was ready, for in those five seconds I readied my dark roar. He looked at me and realized an attack was on the way, readied his skin. "NOT GOOD ENOUGH! DEATH DRAGON'S ROAR!" A wave of darkness shot out of my mouth, a roar that consumes everything in its path causing objects to age and degrade, including his metal skin. Losing his entire skin must have caused some kind of reaction because he staggered forward then fell forward, knocked out. _He he, check and mate_. I saw him reawake and attempted getting up, but failed. I went over to him and offered my hand but he ignored it. "You're REALLY TOUGH! Thank you for the terrific sparring match. Well then, can you tell me your name? Mine's Zack" He looked back at me and simply replied "Gajeel". He stood up and walked away, looking ashamed.

_Tch, he was fast! And metal? Is he a dragon slayer too? This place is full of suprises…_

I looked back and noticed that everybody in the guild was watching. _Awkwaaaaarrddd…_ I walked back to where Ally was and noticed people around me giving me looks of admiration. When I was about half way to where Ally was, someone stopped me. I looked down and saw that it was Levy, one of Ally's friends in the guild. She asked, "Did you just beat up Gajeel?" I must have given her a look of confusion because she replied, "That guy with the iron powers." I realized she was talking about that guy I just beat so I replied, "Yeah…is there a problem? This guild seems to get into a lot of fights and he was aggressive first, so I see no problem." Levy just nodded and walked off. _Strange…oh well, time to go. _

I went to look for Ally and eventually found her in the crowd. "HEY ALLY!" She noticed me and I walked over to her "Hey Ally, I won! I guess-" I never finished because Ally hit me on the head. "Wha… WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

**Ally's POV**

I scoffed at Zack, "Idiot! We're supposed to be getting along with these people and here you are getting into fights! According to the guild people, Gajeel is considered one of the strongest in the guild, right behind Natsu and Gray" He only smiled "Then that means I'M stronger, right?" I looked at him then smacked him, "IDIOT! Now you'll attract too much attention! Tch, and here I thought you wanted to keep a low profile!" He looked back and realizing his mistake, looked down, "Sorry, Ally, I guess…I should just cool off the fights, right?" I looked back and smiled, "You better!" He laughed and looked down at me, "I got a job, want to come with me?" I looked back and nodded. "Sure…but I think the others are already leaving for a job, so it'll be just you and me" He looked back and smiled, "Well then, let's go!" I giggled, "He's kinda adorable when he's enthusiastic"

We headed back into the guild and asked Mira where we could accept jobs from. She laughed and pointed at herself. Zack slapped his head in embarrassment while I face palmed. She looked at the papers and approved us for the job. "Just the two of you, eh?" "Yeah, the rest of our team left for a mission already. Apparently it was REALLY urgent so they didn't tell me and Zack was fighting Gajeel." I glared at him but he was looking away on purpose. "So, where is the job taking place?" We told Mira where we were going and departed for our first job.

* * *

**Me: ****Sorry for not uploading in such a long time, I was busy! This chapter wasn't too long either...ah well, just be happy I finally sat down and typed! :(**

**Zack: *cough*weirdo*cough***

**Me: HEY! *pulls out a Cheez-It shotgun* I HEARD THAT!**

**Zack: W-where the hell did you get that!? THAT'S DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS!**

**Me: I INVENTED IT! NOW YOU MUST DIE FOR THE INSULT! D: **

**Zack: ! *runs away***

**Me: (in ice soldier voice [the ones from Infamous 2])YOU CAN'T ESCAPE! *chases while shooting wildly***

**Ally: *ROFLing on the verge of tears* HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! *sigh* anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! :D**

**Zack: *still running* HELP ME DAMMIT! *dodges blast by one inch***

**Ally: No :3**

**Me: DIE DIE DIE! *continues shooting***


End file.
